iPhone 3G S global launch sees smaller lines, quieter reception (update)
by Thomas Ricker 
posted Jun 19th 2009 at 3:19AM
Update: According to O2, sales for the 3G S have already surpassed numbers for the iPhone 3G during last year's launch. So it's possible that the pre-orders were in full effect here. However, you have to remember that Europe and O2 in the UK in particular had very serious problems meeting demand at the time of the iPhone 3G launch last year. So this statement likely says more about inventory management than it does the demand of the 3G S vs the 3G.
[images courtesy of Richard Lai and mrgeoffb]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
ArcticFox @ Jun 19th 2009 3:29AM
Im not surprised, people dont like having to pay stupid money for something that has all the features that the 1st Gen original iPhone had.
Only Apple can released a half assed device with features from the 90s and then make people pay twice once for 3g and now for better camera, its ridiculous and why i will never buy another Apple product.
ArcticFox @ Jun 19th 2009 3:29AM
Sorry that should have said:
"Im not surprised, people dont like having to pay stupid money for something that has all the features that the 1st Gen original iPhone should have had."
Tanku @ Jun 19th 2009 3:30AM
I don't know, maybe they pre-ordered?
cg0def @ Jun 19th 2009 3:36AM
well ... english are officially smarter than americans ( at least when you compare london an NYC in the context of the iPhone 3GS )
DR House @ Jun 19th 2009 4:05AM
I'm not surprised either , in America apple sheep's buy anything unlike Europe
They pay 50$ for 3G 5GB a month for god sake and we pay less for INFINITY GB a month
Game over Apple your days is numbered its only matter of time before the American Sheep's wake up from there slumber
mannymix @ Jun 19th 2009 4:12AM
lol @ you saying Americans are sheep and then using there instead of their.
In all seriousness, many factors lead to it not being a huge deal.
#1. Its not a huge speed bump from EDGE to 3g and the new feature set isn't a huge upgrade
#2. The early upgrade fee isn't being waived this time around
#3. Economy
#4. Pre-Orders with home delivery.
DR House @ Jun 19th 2009 4:14AM
Also Apple just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about European culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can become successful by being an asshole and selling overpriced outdated crap. If you screw someone over in Europe, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is the European public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase iphone 3GS, nor will they purchase any of Apple's Products anymore. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but apple has alienated an entire market with iphone 3GS release.
Apple, publicly apologize and cancel iphone 3GS or you can kiss your business goodbye
FuzzyCat @ Jun 19th 2009 4:27AM
Sheep can spell?
Henry @ Jun 19th 2009 4:34AM
@DR House
wtf are you on about? Europe isn't a country, its a collection of various (very different) countries. You can't just make a sweeping statement like that - that would be like me saying "In the Americas, pride and guilt play a large part."
You're nuts.
MNJP @ Jun 19th 2009 4:36AM
The original iPhone was something to get excited and probably won't be repeated by anybody Apple included.
AI @ Jun 19th 2009 5:09AM
Apple is stupid tho and i the people buying apple products are even more stupid. just the fact that they can't release a good product first time round and then wait for people to complain about missing features. oh and also, Where the f*ck is MULTITASKING? every windows mobile and the latest Symbians can do multitasking on slower processors. they work fine! Apple is putting too much processing power into the UI when its not needed!
even their macbooks(/pros) are overpriced!
Geir E @ Jun 19th 2009 5:24AM
So.. When nokia, SE, motorola, LG etc delivers a new cellphone that is basically the same as the last one, but with small improvements - That is ok. But Apple is not provided the same luxery, they should reinvent themself for each release?
I think Apple have made a great move by not giving the iphone 3gs a completly new look. So if your iphone use is pure fashion, you still look business with the previous generation iphone. But if your use is technical, the 3gs has some minor adventages.
Steve @ Jun 19th 2009 5:25AM
To be fair this one ain't Apple's fault. O2 are charging over £100 MORE for the 3G S than the 3G on the same 18 month contract. That makes it by far the most expensive handset on the market as the inclusive minutes, texts and data haven't moved on since the 3G launched either. Anyone surprised by small turnout for the new model hasn't been paying attention to the pricing in the UK and I hope O2 realise they're killing their product with these ridiculous prices. To give a comparison the Nokie N97 can be had for free on a £35, 18 month contract with the 600 minutes, tripple the texts and unlimited data compared to £275 on a £35, 18 month contract with 600 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited data for the iPhone....
ArcticFox @ Jun 19th 2009 5:25AM
No its not ok but then they dont charge £400~ for a minor update.
Chris W @ Jun 19th 2009 5:34AM
@mannymix In the UK we did not have the option for preorder with delivery. So everybody you see at the shops is everybody who is buying one.
johnsushant1 @ Jun 19th 2009 5:36AM
@Geir E
Nokia, samsung etc do release similar phones in their product line but the release 20 to 30 phones a year vs apple's 1. They should atleast work well on the one they release.
ill trooper @ Jun 19th 2009 7:58AM
DR House... aka "I'm an expert." You are embarrassing yourself, all across America and Europe. The only repentance is to Publicly Apologize! to us.
mirakutea @ Jun 19th 2009 8:43AM
I agree with the pricing problems in the UK, I bet hardly anyone 'pre-ordered' if that's even possible here and fewer still are going out etc and buying it.
People can see it is a blatent ripoff.
mirakutea @ Jun 19th 2009 8:45AM
Oh I see from an earlier comment, that pre-ordering is not possible here, so basically almost no one is buying it here.
Mike10010100 @ Jun 19th 2009 8:58AM
You know what's really funny? I have yet to see a post from mermermer, Zak, or any of the other Apple fanboys. Wanna know why? Because one of their major points of bashing the Pre and other phones was that there was no lineup to get one initially.
HA!
Matt @ Jun 19th 2009 9:18AM
For everyone thinking DR House is a nut, his post is an edited version of a guy's mad rant regarding Sony and Metal Gear Solid (I think). I can't find it at the moment but it's a must see, shall continue searching...
Dillinger @ Jun 19th 2009 10:40AM
Yes cause the Nokia N97 isnt the exact same POS 700 dollar phone that they have been milking for years. Just as another poster said, other phone companies release up to 40 variations of the same pos year after year and you Euro's just swallow it up.
Richard @ Jun 19th 2009 12:21PM
@Dr House
Wow you have to be one of the biggest douches on the planet. It's very obvious you are one of those European snobs who thinks he knows everything.
Outdated? How exactly is the iPhone outdated? I guess you must have some neat space powered phone.
Shut your dumb Euro trash mouth, you are obviously very jealous. You do realize that the only reason people make fun of anything is because they are either threatened or jealous.....You are a sad sad person.
Matt @ Jun 22nd 2009 4:49PM
The source material for DR House's rant. Hilarious.
Matt @ Jun 19th 2009 1:30PM
Damn comment system! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jz0x5SDGFM
loosely_coupled @ Jun 19th 2009 8:52PM
This is a bullshit article.. The lines are plenty long in the United States, and this despite the fact that Apple sold 300,000 units or more on pre-order without people having to stand in a line..
BB @ Jun 19th 2009 3:30AM
I guess the Pre and the iPhone DO have something in common
Blad3 @ Jun 19th 2009 3:43AM
hahhah, you sir just won the internets.
Hue Jass @ Jun 19th 2009 3:57AM
Alright, usually I'm up on the puns and jokes around here, but I don't get it? Why is this comment funny and what is it talking about?
ED @ Jun 19th 2009 4:07AM
@Hue Jass:
BB's joke is based the thought process: "The Pre is far outclassed by the 3G S, and not many people are buying it either. Hahaha!"
I thought it was kinda funny myself. Also, I plan to buy a Pre when they become available on my planet.
Er, I mean on the shelves of stores near me. Yeap, that's what I said.
feraligatr8 @ Jun 20th 2009 8:35AM
lol, but seriously... why the hell would apple only add 3 new features to the new iPhone. Those things should've been there in the 1st gen iPhone. It's REALLY stupid. How the hell could the 1st gen one not be able to record video?
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 19th 2009 3:30AM
Yeah, I'm sure the Pre is a huge factor in keeping down lines over there where they don't use Sprint or CDMA2000.
insky @ Jun 19th 2009 3:40AM
Except for the whole "it's gonna' be released in a GSM version" part.
jakem @ Jun 19th 2009 3:52AM
The Pre won't be released here until later in the year.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 19th 2009 3:53AM
Except for it hasn't been and no date is announced. Do you really think the same kind of muttonhead who would stand in line at a store to buy a phone first is going to put off their purchase because maybe something else might be available later?
rv @ Jun 19th 2009 4:03AM
It is neither, really its just that its tea time right now. Im sure it will pick up after they have had their cup.
Lando Calrissian @ Jun 19th 2009 3:30AM
Ouch. People are getting over iPhone fever? Probably not, but we can dream, right?
Chubaka @ Jun 19th 2009 3:58AM
Can I have your autograph? Or am I gonna have to dismember you?
B3astofthe3ast @ Jun 19th 2009 3:30AM
There's really no reason to be excited over this phone.
Kelmon @ Jun 19th 2009 7:01AM
I suppose it depends on what you need and what you already have. Personally, I am excited about this since it will be my first phone for about the past 8-years and does a heck of a lot of stuff that I really want. If you already have an iPhone or similar then I can understand interest in an incremental update being limited.
Jim @ Jun 19th 2009 9:54AM
Before the anti-iPhone zealots get too warm and fuzzy, they might want to wait for the results of sales. This is an incremental device and people are locked in on contracts in many parts of the world. By releasing OS 3.0 for all existing iPhone users, they have brought significant additional functionality to the devices they own. This will generate brand loyalty. My Blackberry is stuck with essentially the same crappy interface it had 3 years ago. I'm just off contract and have ordered a 3G S. We're all pundits but the only things that matter are marketshare and user satisfaction. The iPhone has increased both.
patriotsn1 @ Jun 19th 2009 3:30AM
I bet those people sitting out front are just homeless.
LondonConsultant @ Jun 19th 2009 3:41AM
Yeah, it's sad. A couple of months ago, they were investment bankers in the City. That park bench can get pretty boring after a few weeks...
JZ @ Jun 19th 2009 6:04AM
Somebody in Cupertino´s marketing department forgot to read the sticky note "hire actors" is more likely.
In all fairness, I´m actually surprise. Apple normally manages to hype their products so strongly that people are willing to drop their iPod for a "newer" much shinier version up until now. You could argue that the iPhone on the contrary of the iPod has much fiercer competition but on the music players market there are also plenty of other producers who have their products rolling out of the pipeline. Also just like the iPhone, the Pre doesnt seem to sell that strongly either. So I do wonder where those consumers go to...
Mr.Ironic @ Jun 19th 2009 7:24AM
At least they didn't launch in SF. Queues everywhere.
logicbomb.de @ Jun 19th 2009 11:57AM
you may be right, but at the same time iPods aren't subisidized and you won't pay a rape tax that's dependent on how long you've owned your previous ipod.
Richard Lai @ Jun 19th 2009 4:33PM
Funny you should say that. A hobo did walk past us and mumbled, "Pah... iPods...."
Dale @ Jun 19th 2009 3:33AM
they just took advantage of the free shipping.. which is smart! sit back relax and wait for you new phone to arrive!
Gad Get @ Jun 19th 2009 3:39AM
Maybe iPhone fans have finally figured out that the best way to get a new iPhone as soon as it comes out isn't to camp out in the street, but to pre-order. Or, maybe they just decided to wait for a real upgrade. Or maybe they want to wait and "Pre"-order. All I know is it's a good thing we won't be hearing about any tramplings this time around.
Dale @ Jun 19th 2009 3:44AM
PRE-ordered.. funny